Brands should become the consumers’ belonging

Good brands are praised endlessly, and timeless brands are even more famous. So, how to create a timeless brand? What qualities does such a brand need to have? The author of this article draws a strategic map for the road to eternity for brands. Welcome to read if you are interested in brand marketing and brand planning.

As the market environment changes, the importance of brand as a comprehensive discipline of philosophy and science in the business world has been recognized by more and more people.

Nike is more expensive than Li Ning after it has a trademark; Apple, after it has a trademark, even its power banks can be priced many times higher. Not to mention luxury brands like Chanel, Bulgari, and Prada.

Since the brand is so important, we need to draw a strategic map for the brand to achieve eternity, so that the brand can be sold quickly, for a long time, widely, and even forever. There are seven paths to the eternity of a brand.

1. The First Path

Establish the highest mission of the brand's existence - To create a timeless brand, we need to ask ourselves some questions that seem to be common sense, but are extremely important: Why should we create a brand? Why should consumers pay a high price for the products under our brand?

More precisely, a brand that aspires to be timeless needs to demonstrate a sense of purpose wherever its market can reach, at least within its own field.

Like all industry leaders, the Eternal brand must not only shoulder its own responsibilities, but also surpass the industry average and be the leader. What was our original intention when we created the brand? Now that the brand is developing well or has encountered some problems, what is our brand mission now? Has our brand set clear goals, such as goals for scale, sales or profits? Does our brand have the confidence to achieve its own goals and ideals? Do the brand's goals and vision match our target consumer groups?

For example, Nike's brand goals are very consistent with the group that values ​​sportsmanship. Although Nike is facing some problems in the Chinese market temporarily, as time goes by and the environment improves, the Nike brand will definitely be able to solve these temporary problems.

Can the brand's goal provide a continuous driving force for the brand? Or is it just a stimulating and challenging action? As the founder of the brand, what do you think is the brand belief you created? What is your belief? What is the unique corporate culture belief formed by employees? Does the brand you created have a unique style and attitude? Are you determined to pursue the brand's mission? Is this mission highly authoritative in the industry and outside the industry? Can it inspire people to pursue their own mission?

Apple's extraordinary mission can be a great call to employees and consumers. For brand founders, we need to think about whether we are willing to do our best to achieve the brand mission? Does your brand have unique characteristics? Or is it forward-looking and leading?

2. The Second Path

Make the brand a desire and belonging for consumers - Timeless brands need to create a sense of belonging for their customers so that all customers get something they desire.

Does the brand have a clear target group and use it to guide the brand's design and proposition? Does the brand's target group have a distinctive and motivating effect on the brand's core customers and "strategic target groups"? Apple's high-end, Muji's lifestyle, and Tesla's technological image have achieved this effect. Although Tesla's car quality may not be as good as BYD's, BYD lacks incentives for consumers.

Can the brand's mission be activated, or does it only have a conventional influence? Is the brand's goal limited? Or can it be imagined without limit? Can the brand's goal find users who can help spread the brand's information, such as the Victoria's Secret show in previous years, Chanel's fashion blog, and the kiss discount festival that Xibei wants to try .

Does creating a brand require more wealth than others, material wealth or spiritual wealth? Does the brand have the requirements to create brand norms and brand alliances? Does the brand use random elements to create a sense of desire to reach the pinnacle?

Does the brand create a complex relationship with the strategic target group? Is the brand's strategy consistent with the target group? Who or what is the brand against? Who is opposing the brand's behavior?

Are you intentionally or unintentionally shutting out non-target customers so that brand customers can feel privileged? Does the brand make a good distinction between potential and actual buyers, or are there more people who have the intention to buy than those who can afford to buy?

Does the brand take advantage of limited editions, seasonality and special allocations to stimulate sales? For example, the American Express Black Card does this.

Do the target customers of the brand wear the brand logo on themselves, or associate themselves with the brand in other ways? Or are the target consumers trying to hide your logo? Brands such as LV and Chanel have achieved that consumers are willing to wear accessories with the brand logo on them.

3. The Third Way

Find a good way to interact with consumers - How do brands interact with consumers? Is the interaction in a confident manner? Or a standard manner?

A timeless brand will not sell products, but attract customers to consume. This is what Drucker said: marketing is not sales. Real marketing starts from product design. Marketing is the sum of a series of behaviors. The purpose of a company's marketing is to make sales unnecessary.

Apple never promotes its products or makes sales, it only communicates and contacts. When contacting, it will not appear too greedy or aggressive. Timeless brands will consider the acceptance of consumers while constantly surpassing themselves.

Can the brand demonstrate strong confidence and appeal? Does the brand have a clear and distinct position? Sometimes, we really need to put aside political factors and look at brands that withdraw from certain countries. On certain things, brands do need a clear position.

Does the brand maintain its aloof and uncompromising spirit? Can the brand accept all the economic impacts brought by the brand strategy? When the brand shows its pride appropriately, will it win the respect of consumers? For example, Hermès’s policy of not accepting returns is, of course, not in line with China’s three guarantees policy.

If brands use the celebrity effect, are these celebrities brand users and admirers, or paid performers? Many Chinese celebrities who endorse domestic brands are basically paid performers. Do you remember Wang Han endorsing Laotan Pickled Cabbage? A video leaked from the set - Wang Han didn't eat it himself, but dumped it into the trash can.

When the brand’s attention is not high, does it offer promotions and discounts? When the brand interacts with customers, does it get enough attention? Can people who do not buy the brand’s products also feel or experience the brand culture? In addition to paying the media to promote the brand, can the brand itself carry out marketing activities or become a brand medium? For example, Red Bull has done very well.

4. The Fourth Way

Tell consumers a legendary story: Telling consumers a story that is relevant to the brand and easy to spread is the most important marketing method for any brand. But eternal brands need to turn their stories into brand myths. Have you explored the symbolic meaning of the brand name and understood the ritual of the brand name? What is the core of your brand? Does the brand story fit the image? Is the brand name provocative? Does the brand allow the target customer group to be part of the brand building? Does the brand realize the brand story through actions and make such efforts unremittingly? Does the brand elevate the brand story to the level of brand myth? Is the brand myth instructive? Does the development of the brand myth maintain the core of the myth and develop the idol temperament? For example, the elegant qualities of the Chanel brand. Can the brand's customer group or non-customer group describe the content of the brand myth in three sentences? As the founder of the brand, can you do this?

5. The Fifth Way

Make the product different and unique - Make the brand products unique, have both practical value and have higher advantages than most brands, so that the brand can prosper forever.

Top brands place their products in the most important position and give them the closest attention so that they can receive the respect they deserve.

Does the brand product go beyond the core defined by the brand myth? Does the brand transform consumers’ “rational belief” in the brand into “trust in the brand because they are attracted by the brand story”, thereby emotionalizing brand marketing and ultimately achieving the goal of connecting with consumers?

In the process of development, does the brand develop products and services with the purpose of gaining the respect of consumers? Do the brand products have soul and do they express the brand story?

Are the rules of use of the product closely linked to the brand? Are the brand assets properly allocated so that the brand image reaches a position that can surpass the brand trademark value? Does the brand convert the language and code to the marketing model that suits its products or other fields?

Does the brand accept customized services? Do Lv brand products really have the image of idols? Does the brand regularly update its idol image to adapt to the trend of the times? Does the brand product have a "holy grail" status in the brand myth or among similar products?

6. The Sixth Way

Born for a dream - the brand's mission needs to be taken seriously, and the brand myth must be infused with true feelings. Eternal brands always reflect their beliefs, from brand leadership to brand organization to brand actions. We can look at the development path of religious brands.

Details determine success or failure, and the difference of the Eternal brand lies in the details.

Are the brand structure, brand creation process, brand culture and brand ethics fully reflected in the brand mission? Are the brand goals, brand organization and brand target audiences equal and coordinated? Can the working environment reflect the combination of brand mission and brand myth? In the process of adhering to brand beliefs, has the brand encountered difficult choices?

If the brand itself is owned by a large enterprise, will the brand benefit from it? (For example, Shanghai Story is sold to a luxury brand) In the implementation of the brand project, will it gradually destroy the entire brand?

Will the brand apply all its innovations and experiences to users to ensure that the core content of the brand will not be lost in the process of brand reproduction?

In the execution of brand projects, can you feel the passion of the brand and its attitude of pursuing perfection? Is the brand created by your company unique or roughly the same as other brands? Does the brand really know what it is doing? If you don’t recruit employees or attract customers, can the brand find its soul mate and loyal supporters?

7. The Seventh Path

Brand growth is endless - how to make the brand grow continuously without overdevelopment? How to get rid of the constraints of price? This requires the brand to do a good job of balancing many aspects, slow down appropriately when the development is too fast, improve immediately when the development is slow, and rely closely on the brand and brand core.

Do you consciously control brand investment and product production to enable it to meet its own expansive growth? Do you avoid huge losses in the early stage and let the brand grow naturally without interference from other factors?

I like marathon running. I think branding is like running. You need to get started before you start. We need to train our skills, improve our products, and enhance our service quality. That is, we need to continuously manage the brand, increase communication between the brand and customers, make customers more loyal to the brand design, and finally launch the brand into the market. As a founder, have you done this?

Did you lay the foundation for horizontal expansion before you expanded vertically? Did you lay the foundation for horizontal expansion before inflation? Did you create a unique sense of exclusivity for your brand’s customer base? Did your customers build a connection with your brand as it grew? After years of growth and expansion, does your brand’s purpose still help it grow?

There are countless questions in the above seven paths. As a founder, you need to answer these questions with your team and draw a map for the brand's eternal path. Of course, a better way is to find a professional company to help you answer them and develop an action plan for the brand.

Author: Liu Yichun; Editors: Zhong Mingyue, Li Mingyao

WeChat public account: Liu Yichun’s brand business innovation (ID: shangyeyiguohui)